A 23-year-old man was arrested early Tuesday after he tried to life-hack his way into’s Seattle high-priced housing market by taking up residence in a for-sale home without actually buying it.
Officers were called to a home a for-sale home in the 4800 block of South Othello Street around 5:30 AM on August 9th after learning a man had taken up residence inside.
Police found that someone had taken down a real estate company’s sign advertising the home’s for-sale status, and dumped it in the yard.
Officers saw a 23-year-old man in the basement attempting to set fire to a cigarette package.
When officers entered the home through an open basement door and contacted the man, he told officers he had taken a liking to the house and had taken down the for sale sign and moved in.
The man, who appeared to be under the influence of methamphetamine, had built a makeshift toaster in the basement, laying a piece of bread on top of a grate, which he’d set over the cigarette package he had been trying to ignite when officers arrived.
Police booked the man into the King County Jail for property destruction and trespassing and contacted the home’s owner, who lives outside of the United States.